Road To Recovery

       I heard the story of a young woman who had to 'close up' where she was working one evening, and per instructions by administration, needed to be escorted by another employee to her car, given the distance to the parking garage and her age.  On this particular evening there was a single male employee who was also finishing his duties, who was asked to walk her, to her car.  He obliged.  But upon arrival took advantage of the situation and ‘violated’ her.

The pain of this incident looms large in front of her.  She feels guilty for not having fought harder, for not having someone else escort her--even though there was no one else,-- for working there, and the list goes on.  This was not her fault—at all!  But she must learn how to deal with her anxiety, guilt, shame, and everything that goes with it, along with trying to forgive.  

FORGIVENESS IS HARD

Forgiveness comes hard for something as personal as this and the desire to forgive can be over-ridden by pain.  We all experience incidents in our lives where we wonder if we’ll ever be able to ‘live without fear’ or be able to trust anyone again.

Hate and anger can be so consuming, it can monopolize our thoughts and in some cases cause us to behave irrationally.  Sometimes we’ll want to hurt the person who has hurt us and sometimes we reach a point where we either want to end it ourselves, or ask God to just take us home.

FORGIVENESS BRINGS FREEDOM

Freedom from this kind of pain can only come through forgiveness.  It’s not an emotion, it's a process, and it can only come by choice.  We have to make the decision to surrender our pain and anger to God, and choose to forgive the person who has hurt us so deeply.

God’s Word further tells us we need to forgive seventy times seven times.  I suppose you could keep count of how many times you’ve forgiven someone, but it’s more likely God is telling us that we have to forgive over and over again.  

MEMORIES

      The pain may ease for a while, and then something triggers the memory and we’re feeling swallowed up again, until we choose to forgive again.  How long does that take?  That’s anyone’s guess.  And most likely, depending on the circumstance it could be a lifetime.

JESUS IS THE ULTIMATE FORGIVER

The best example of this is Jesus forgiving the world by dying on the cross.  He forgave us before we were even born!  Further his sacrificial death wasn’t for a single sin, it was for every sin you or I commit from the time we were born until our deaths!  I can’t even imagine how many times He’s had to forgive me for sins I’ve done over my lifetime— even since becoming a follower of Him!

Forgiveness doesn’t mean the hurt will stop.  It’s likely it will over time, but it could take a long time!   But by choosing God’s grace, while he heals your heart, the healing will be more profound.  Healing happens in layers, just as forgiveness does.  It’s not instantaneous.  We are human and emotions run deep.

RECOVERY DOES COME

Recovery will come, but it’s a journey which we might have to take, time and again, before we finally reach the end…and that said, sometimes,  a lifetime isn't long enough.  But forgiveness will dull the pain and ultimately grant us inner peace, instead of  allowing our negative emotions to eat us alive, and leaving us creatures of bitterness, anger and rage.

Photo Credit:  Inner Peace